This invention relates a seat for a watercraft and more particularly to an improved seat cushion construction.
Many types of watercraft are provided with seats which include a seat cushion of a foam material and a surrounding protective covering. In order to provide a comfortable seat cushion, it is desirable to employ a material such as an open celled or partially open celled foam for the cushioning material. If, however, a water type covering is provided for the seat cushion, then the expulsion of air from the cushion when a rider sits upon the seat can cause rupturing of the water type covering.
It has, therefore, been proposed to provide a foam cushion which is covered on its upper sides by a water type covering but which has an perforate lower layer so as to permit air to be expelled when a rider sits on the seat and re-enter the cushion when he leaves the seat. However, due to the fact that the watercraft operates in an area where there is a considerable amount of water, water may enter the cushion when it expands. This is undesirable for a great variety of reasons.
In order to avoid these problems, it has been proposed to provide an air discharge opening in the lower portion of the seat cushion that communicates with a flexible bag to accommodate the air flow into and out of the foam cushion material when passengers sit on the cushion or leave the cushion and to provide a hermetic seal for the foam material. However, these devices require a fairly substantial volume beneath the seat, unless the cushion is made so thin as to be uncomfortable. Hence, there is a substantial space wastage with the prior art solutions to this problem.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide an improved seat structure that can be used in a water vehicle and which will be hermetically sealed and nevertheless permit air flow into and out of the foam cushion material without having water enter the cushion material.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved and compact arrangement for hermetically sealing a cushion for a water vehicle which has a compact construction.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a combined seat arrangement and storage compartment arrangement for a water vehicle which will permit the seat cushion to breath when passengers sit on it while at the same time avoiding the intrusion of water when the passenger leaves the seat cushion.